Imam of the Hearts and Minds
By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz
"As for the heart, it is one of Allah’s marvelous signs in human body, since it pumps the blood to all parts of the body and the blood conveys food and oxygen in order to distribute them throughout the body, and then it arranges for the discharge of waste products from the body of them. The heart pumps the blood to the lungs so that they may take adequate supply of oxygen from the air which a person breathes. In the lungs, the blood gets rid of some waste products which it gathers from the parts of the blood and which take form of a gas called carbon dioxide. The heart also pumps the blood to the kidneys.
"As for the regulation of the beats of the heart, it is one of the secrets of creation; the average of the beats of the heart is seventy times per minute, which amounts to one hundred thousand times a day, forty million times a year, and over two thousand millions in middle age. Therefore, we must think of this great glorification which never ceases nor flags by night and day.”
The above passages which are a brilliant description of the heart and its functions are not by any cardiologist, neither by any scientist, nor by anyone specializing in medicine and human anatomy. .
These are the words of a person who was one of the repositories of Divine knowledge, whom God Almighty collectively calls "Rasekhouna fi ilm” in the holy Qur’an, and on whose authority the famous treatise: "ar-Risala adh-Dhahabiya fi’t-Tibb” was compiled over a millennium and two centuries ago.
It is companion to the book "Tibb ar-Reza”. If modern researchers were to diligently delve into the depths of these works, which contain prescriptions and valuable guidelines including cure for different ailments as well as proper dietary and hygienic habits, they can definitely find a cure for the Coronavirus pandemic plaguing the world.
He was none other than Imam Ali ar-Reza (AS), the 8th Infallible Heir of the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA). He lived in a crucial era of history when the sciences of neighbouring cultures were pouring in unfiltered into the Islamic heartland, confusing scholars and laymen alike.
As the Divinely-designated leader of mankind, he felt it his duty to enlighten people’s minds. At every opportunity, he imparted to the people of his age the bezels of God-given wisdom. Those who properly used the power of the intellect and the light of faith in their hearts, benefitted from him, while retarded brains and darkened hearts failed to comprehend his words.
This is the reason, these days hearts of the faithful are turned towards Mashhad in Khorasan, northeastern Iran, where he reposes in peace in the sprawling golden-domed mausoleum. The 11th of Zi’l-Qa’dah is his birth anniversary and the city thus wears a festive look. It has been bedecked with flowers and colourful fluorescent lights.
Mashhad is thus the holiest spot in Iran, and thousands of devotees from all over Iran have assembled there today, defying the Coronavirus pandemic by maintaining social distancing and with full confidence in God Almighty that He will deliver His creatures from this seemingly uncontrollable plague.
The knowledge of Imam Reza (AS), was not confined to the field of medicine, or to the sphere of astronomy, or for that matter to the precepts of Islamic law; rather it covered all kinds of God-given wisdom beyond the ken of fallible mortals.
He needs no introduction. Born in Medina in the year 148 AH (765 AD), within a fortnight of the martyrdom of his illustrious grandfather Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS) – the Reviver of the Prophet’s Jurisprudence – for 18 years, following the martyrdom of his father Imam Musa al-Kazem in 183 AH by the tyrant Haroun Rashid in the dungeon of Baghdad, he had been Helmsman of the Ark of Salvation (Safinat an-Nejat – as the Prophet had called his Ahl al-Bayt.
As a matter of fact, for all strata of society Imam Reza (AS) was the Beacon of Guidance (Misbah al-Huda to quote the Prophet again regarding the Ahl al-Bayt), until his forced coming in 201 to Marv (presently in the republic of Turkmenistan).
The crafty caliph Mamoun of the usurper Abbasid dynasty thought that by removing Imam Reza (AS) from the holy city of Medina, the centre of gravity of the Muslim World, and by keeping him under the watchful eyes of the court in faraway Marv, with the deceitfully honourific title of ‘Heir-Apparent’, he could kill two birds with one stone. On one hand, he hoped to isolate the Imam from the Ummah – albeit in a diplomatic way. On the other hand, he surmised that the luxury of court life would taint Imam Reza (AS), thereby tarnishing once and for all the unsullied image of the Imamate among the followers of the Prophet’s Household.
This intricate plot, however, badly backfired on the hypocritical enemies, and though they martyred the 8th Imam through poison in 203 AH, they signed their own death warrant, as they could not stop the transformation for good the land of Iran, where over 70 years earlier the Abbasids had misused the people’s natural tendencies for the Ahl al-Bayt to hijack the caliphate.
At every turn, Imam Reza (AS) through his discourses to the masses or through his lively debates with scholars and scientists had expounded various branches of knowledge, thereby enlightening every sincere heart that came into contact with him.
As the pilgrims, with fervent prayers on their lips are beseeching God to help devoted Iranian medics and scientists find the antidote for curing the afflicted victims of the pandemic and eradicating Covid-19, let us focus on the description by Imam Reza (AS) about the position of Imamate in Islam, which is a Divine trust in contrast to the scandalous institution of the caliphate, since the holy Qur’an informs us in Ayah 124 of Surah al-Baqarah of the Divine appointment of Prophet Abraham as "Imam of mankind”, with the explicit pledge that this lofty status will never be given to the unjust.
"The Imamate is the rank of the Prophets and the heritage of the Heirs of the Prophet. The Imamate is the representation of God the Majestic and His Messenger (Prophet Muhammad – SAWA); the position of the Commander of the Faithful (Imam Ali – AS); and the vicegerency of (the Imams) Hasan and Husain (peace upon them).
"The Imam is the head of the religious affairs, the system of the Muslims, the virtue of the world, the bastion of believers… The Imam legalizes whatever God decrees legal, forbids whatever God decrees illegal… The Imam is like the shining sun whose light covers the whole world while it stands erect in the horizon and neither sights nor hands can catch it… The Imam is the Trustee of God on His Earth and (for His) creatures, the argument of God towards the creation, the vicegerent of God in His Earth, the inviter to God, and the protector of the sanctities of God… The Imam is immune from sins, free of defects, endowed with exclusive knowledge, characterized with forbearance… The Imam is unique in his time. No one can catch up with him and no scholar can amount to him. There is no substitute for him…”
"As for the heart, it is one of Allah’s marvelous signs in human body, since it pumps the blood to all parts of the body and the blood conveys food and oxygen in order to distribute them throughout the body, and then it arranges for the discharge of waste products from the body of them. The heart pumps the blood to the lungs so that they may take adequate supply of oxygen from the air which a person breathes. In the lungs, the blood gets rid of some waste products which it gathers from the parts of the blood and which take form of a gas called carbon dioxide. The heart also pumps the blood to the kidneys.
"As for the regulation of the beats of the heart, it is one of the secrets of creation; the average of the beats of the heart is seventy times per minute, which amounts to one hundred thousand times a day, forty million times a year, and over two thousand millions in middle age. Therefore, we must think of this great glorification which never ceases nor flags by night and day.”
The above passages which are a brilliant description of the heart and its functions are not by any cardiologist, neither by any scientist, nor by anyone specializing in medicine and human anatomy. .
These are the words of a person who was one of the repositories of Divine knowledge, whom God Almighty collectively calls "Rasekhouna fi ilm” in the holy Qur’an, and on whose authority the famous treatise: "ar-Risala adh-Dhahabiya fi’t-Tibb” was compiled over a millennium and two centuries ago.
It is companion to the book "Tibb ar-Reza”. If modern researchers were to diligently delve into the depths of these works, which contain prescriptions and valuable guidelines including cure for different ailments as well as proper dietary and hygienic habits, they can definitely find a cure for the Coronavirus pandemic plaguing the world.
He was none other than Imam Ali ar-Reza (AS), the 8th Infallible Heir of the Almighty’s Last and Greatest Messenger, Prophet Muhammad (SAWA). He lived in a crucial era of history when the sciences of neighbouring cultures were pouring in unfiltered into the Islamic heartland, confusing scholars and laymen alike.
As the Divinely-designated leader of mankind, he felt it his duty to enlighten people’s minds. At every opportunity, he imparted to the people of his age the bezels of God-given wisdom. Those who properly used the power of the intellect and the light of faith in their hearts, benefitted from him, while retarded brains and darkened hearts failed to comprehend his words.
This is the reason, these days hearts of the faithful are turned towards Mashhad in Khorasan, northeastern Iran, where he reposes in peace in the sprawling golden-domed mausoleum. The 11th of Zi’l-Qa’dah is his birth anniversary and the city thus wears a festive look. It has been bedecked with flowers and colourful fluorescent lights.
Mashhad is thus the holiest spot in Iran, and thousands of devotees from all over Iran have assembled there today, defying the Coronavirus pandemic by maintaining social distancing and with full confidence in God Almighty that He will deliver His creatures from this seemingly uncontrollable plague.
The knowledge of Imam Reza (AS), was not confined to the field of medicine, or to the sphere of astronomy, or for that matter to the precepts of Islamic law; rather it covered all kinds of God-given wisdom beyond the ken of fallible mortals.
He needs no introduction. Born in Medina in the year 148 AH (765 AD), within a fortnight of the martyrdom of his illustrious grandfather Imam Ja’far as-Sadeq (AS) – the Reviver of the Prophet’s Jurisprudence – for 18 years, following the martyrdom of his father Imam Musa al-Kazem in 183 AH by the tyrant Haroun Rashid in the dungeon of Baghdad, he had been Helmsman of the Ark of Salvation (Safinat an-Nejat – as the Prophet had called his Ahl al-Bayt.
As a matter of fact, for all strata of society Imam Reza (AS) was the Beacon of Guidance (Misbah al-Huda to quote the Prophet again regarding the Ahl al-Bayt), until his forced coming in 201 to Marv (presently in the republic of Turkmenistan).
The crafty caliph Mamoun of the usurper Abbasid dynasty thought that by removing Imam Reza (AS) from the holy city of Medina, the centre of gravity of the Muslim World, and by keeping him under the watchful eyes of the court in faraway Marv, with the deceitfully honourific title of ‘Heir-Apparent’, he could kill two birds with one stone. On one hand, he hoped to isolate the Imam from the Ummah – albeit in a diplomatic way. On the other hand, he surmised that the luxury of court life would taint Imam Reza (AS), thereby tarnishing once and for all the unsullied image of the Imamate among the followers of the Prophet’s Household.
This intricate plot, however, badly backfired on the hypocritical enemies, and though they martyred the 8th Imam through poison in 203 AH, they signed their own death warrant, as they could not stop the transformation for good the land of Iran, where over 70 years earlier the Abbasids had misused the people’s natural tendencies for the Ahl al-Bayt to hijack the caliphate.
At every turn, Imam Reza (AS) through his discourses to the masses or through his lively debates with scholars and scientists had expounded various branches of knowledge, thereby enlightening every sincere heart that came into contact with him.
As the pilgrims, with fervent prayers on their lips are beseeching God to help devoted Iranian medics and scientists find the antidote for curing the afflicted victims of the pandemic and eradicating Covid-19, let us focus on the description by Imam Reza (AS) about the position of Imamate in Islam, which is a Divine trust in contrast to the scandalous institution of the caliphate, since the holy Qur’an informs us in Ayah 124 of Surah al-Baqarah of the Divine appointment of Prophet Abraham as "Imam of mankind”, with the explicit pledge that this lofty status will never be given to the unjust.
"The Imamate is the rank of the Prophets and the heritage of the Heirs of the Prophet. The Imamate is the representation of God the Majestic and His Messenger (Prophet Muhammad – SAWA); the position of the Commander of the Faithful (Imam Ali – AS); and the vicegerency of (the Imams) Hasan and Husain (peace upon them).
"The Imam is the head of the religious affairs, the system of the Muslims, the virtue of the world, the bastion of believers… The Imam legalizes whatever God decrees legal, forbids whatever God decrees illegal… The Imam is like the shining sun whose light covers the whole world while it stands erect in the horizon and neither sights nor hands can catch it… The Imam is the Trustee of God on His Earth and (for His) creatures, the argument of God towards the creation, the vicegerent of God in His Earth, the inviter to God, and the protector of the sanctities of God… The Imam is immune from sins, free of defects, endowed with exclusive knowledge, characterized with forbearance… The Imam is unique in his time. No one can catch up with him and no scholar can amount to him. There is no substitute for him…”